Ch14 – Try…Try Again

He stopped gasping for breath. Something about entering the room had taken the second injection of energy out of him and he had to lean against the wall to prevent himself from falling over. He could only hope that while he was trying to work out how to solve the problem with his husband and brother that everyone else he cared for was staying strong and safe. He didn't know how long it would be after he solved the problem that he would be able to cure anyone else but he hoped and prayed that all his work was not for nothing.

Sending another silent prayer for help to his sister, for about the hundredth time that day, he finally found the energy to shove off the wall and stumble past the privacy screen before half sitting, half collapsing by the bed. Comfortably tucked under the covers Jiang Cheng would have looked as if he was in a peaceful sleep if not for the fact he was barely breathing. Wei Ying used his spirit once more to search around the golden core, as expected it was almost surrounded by the strange blackness. Withdrawing himself he sighed. He was hoping that he would have time to eat, sleep and regain some of his strength before trying to heal his brother, but it seemed the illness had other ideas.

'I have to keep strong if I'm going to help Lan Zhan' He spoke to himself almost as if speaking a mantra.

'I have to keep strong if I'm going to help A-Yuan, Jin Ling….' The mantra continued inside his head as he repeated all the juniors that had supported him over the years and now relied on him to save them.

Taking a few deep breaths to steady his heartbeat he focused what was left of his energy so he could control his cultivation once again. This would be the last chance for him to cure this, if it didn't work then he would need a few days to recover and who knows who would die in that time. Focusing and resting his hand just below his brothers chest, over the core he let himself disappear deeper than he ever had before.

The darkness surrounded him, there was more here than surrounded Lan Zhan's core but on the plus side he knew this core intimately and didn't need to explore to find the area he wanted. Even though darkness surrounded the whole core there was one area which seemed darker than the rest, this was the area he needed to focus on, this was the area that was the basis for the rest. This had also once been his core, even though it hadn't been for years and his cultivation energy had changed, his core still recognised him. This recognition could be the key to helping his brother recover.

A slow trickle of power aimed at the darkest part of the core showed almost immediate results. He wasn't sure what to expect but the resistance almost to the point of fighting him, wasn't on his list. Wei Ying increased the power, the resistance increased also. Every time Wei Ying increased the amount of power he was aiming at the core the more the resistance would increase as well, it was almost like the darkness was alive and consciously fighting his efforts to purge it from his brothers body. When he had been using the thread that linked him to Lan Zhan he hadn't felt this resistance, feeling it now meant one of two things. Either using his connection with his cultivation partner was the only way to solve this or aiming at darkest part of a core way the key.

Not knowing which answer was correct he just kept adding pushing more and more power through himself and into the connection with the core. However he was already weak from his attempt to heal Lan Zhan and didn't have too much physical or spiritual energy left, he didn't know how much longer he could keep this level of effort up. Distantly he could already feel his breathing laboured as his body was struggling under the effort, but he had to push himself more, had to finish this!

The darkness was still fighting his power but there was less strength, less resistance behind it. Finding reserves he never knew he had he managed to push a final surge of power through himself before the world went dark once again.

He didn't know if it was one hour, one day or one week when the room came back into focus. The floor was cold and hard under his face and outside the door nothing could be seen but darkness. Wei Ying tried to move but his muscles refused to move, there was no energy in his body for movement. Even when he tried to raise his head to look at the bed his head refused to move more than a few inches. He groaned slightly, he had obviously spent all of his energy and was completely at the mercy of anyone who might show up.

Two feet appeared silently in front of his face causing him to flinch, or at least try to. The feet seemed to be trembling slightly and bare so where obviously not belonging to someone who had just arrived from the outside.

'Jiang Cheng?' Wei Ying tried to say although it came more of a murmur.

The person didn't reply but rather squatted down until both faces focused on each other.

'What are you doing on the floor in my room?' Jiang Cheng asked curiously looking down at his brother.

'Having a nap!' Came the sarcastic response 'I fainted after using all my energy to heal you!'

A hand wrapped under Wei Ying's shoulder and attempted to aid him up for a moment before Jiang Cheng visibly wobbled.

'You are lucky you're awake, I don't have any energy left to heal you if you fall and break your neck' Wei Ying grumbled.

'I'm trying to help you up and you're complaining! Do you want me to leave you on the floor?' Jiang Cheng's sarcastic response came in sync with the hand letting go.

Jiang Cheng grumbled under his breath as he walked out the room leaving Wei Ying to try to find a more comfortable position on the floor. A few hours later he once again woke up, without realising he had actually fallen asleep, but this time with enough energy to actually prop himself up. The smell of food coming from the nearby table was enough to make his stomach not only grumble to growl loudly, he was determined that even if he had to crawl he was going to eat and replenish his energy.

Already sitting at the table sat Jiang Cheng, eating quietly and ignoring Wei Ying as he half stumbled, half crawled over. Both men ate like ravenous animals, to hungry to care that there was no communication between the two. The only interaction was when they both reached for the same food at the same time and there would be a small tussle over who ate first before settling back into a tense filled silence.

Eating until he was over full Wei Ying felt his strength slowly returning to him and realised it had been days since he last ate. He had used up so much spiritual energy in the last day without eating replenishing anything, no wonder he felt so weak. Not that he had any intention of saying that to Jiang Cheng, his brother would just have something else to criticise him for!

After the silent meal Wei Ying stood up and moved to the door, headed for Lan Zhan's room.

'Wei WuXian where are you going?' came the harsh voice behind him.

'I'm going to check on my husband to see if the energy I passed him has had any effect like it did with you' Wei Ying replied as he walked out the door without waiting for the reply. Walking across the central courtyard he could hear Jiang Cheng behind him, not trying to hide his distaste at being made to follow behind in his own home. His distaste at hearing the word 'husband' was no less obvious although Wei Ying pointedly ignored him.

Upon arriving at Lan Zhan's room Wei Ying once again used his spirit to check his core and was amazed to find that all the energy he had transferred earlier had seemed to completely dissipate. Lan Zhan's core was almost in the same condition as it had been the last time he had tried to heal him, where as Jiang Cheng was up, walking, and annoying him. As if knowing what he was thinking a loud annoyed huff came from the open door as Jiang Cheng made his presence known.

'Why isn't he awake?' the bland voice asked.

'How am I supposed to know?' Wei Ying was loosing his patience as he got up off the bed and moved back over to the door only to see his brother lounging against the frame 'If Lan Zhan had woken up HE would actually be helping me instead of grumbling!'

Again without waiting for any response Wei Ying pushed by his brother and straight out the door to catch a message that suddenly appeared in his palm.

A/N

This story is lasting longer than I planned but I hope people are enjoying it. Please leave reviews if you have you have anything to say. This will ne my final chapter of 2020 but I will be back early Jan 2021 with new chapters.